Improvement in folding-tables



2 Sheets-Sheen}.

J. BRADI'I'BLD.

Polding-TablesQ 0.201243. Wtedflug. 20,1878.

N.FETERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. c.

2 sheetrsheel J. BRADPIELD. Folding-Tables.

No. 201,243. Paten ted Aug. 20,1878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN BRADFIELD, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING-TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 207,243, dated August 20, 1878; application filed July 17, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN BRADFIELD, of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Tables and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in folding tables; and it consists in the arrangement and combination of parts whereby the legs can be folded entirely within the top when the table is not in use, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section, and Fig. 4. is a plan view, of the plates that unite the legs together. Fig. 5 is a perspective of the slide and the cross-piece hinged to its end. Fig. 6 is a perspective of the slide and legs.

a represents the top of the table, which may be of any shape, size, or construction that may be. preferred. Screwed or otherwise fastened to the under side of the top are the two strips 1), which have their inner edges beveled away, and are separated from each other just far enough to form the dovetailed groove 0, in which the slide 01 moves back and forth. This slide consists of nothing more than a strip of plank, which is about long enough to reach from one of the end flanges to the center of the table. Very near one of the ends of this slide is hinged the strip 0, which extends at right angles to the slide, may be of any desired length, and can be folded closely against the slide in closing up the legs. Rigidly secured to the center of this hinged strip 6 is the center-rod j, which forms the pivot upon which the legs 9 open and close.

The legs may be of any ornamental shape preferred, and are united together in pairs by means of the metallic plates i, which have holes through their centers to pass over the rod f, and which cross each other at right angles when the legs are opened, and lie side by side when they are closed. The rodf may be given any ornamental form preferred, but it serves no other purpose than a pivot upon which the legs turn. Both pairs of legs are cut away at their top inner corners, so as to form a recess for the strip 6 to fit in. When the legs are folded together a pair of them together are just as thick as the strip 6, so that there will be no projection on the hinge side to prevent the strip from folding down on the slide. On each strip 1) is a projection, r, to prevent the legs from opening too wide. When the legs are closed together and folded down within the flanges on the under side of the table-top the end of the slide near which the strip 0 is pivoted rests against the end flange 0; but when it is desired to open them the slide is moved endwise until the strip c rests across the center of the table, the legs having been raised at their free ends before the slide was moved. After the strip 0 has been moved to the center of the table the legs. are opened outward until they strike against the projections 7'. To close the legs-they are first moved together, the slide moved endwise until its end strikes the flange 0, and then the slides are closed inward.

I am aware that a flanged guide has been secured to the under side of the table, and that a slide held in position by a set-screw, and having the legs clamped thereto, is not new, and this I disclaim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination of the top (1, having a flange or stop, 0, and the strips b, secured to its under side, the slide (1 moving back and forth between the strips, hinged piece 0, and folding legs 9, substantially as shown.

2. The combination, in a folding table, of the top a, having stop 0, slide d, moving back and forth between the strips 1), hinged piece 0, folding legs 9, center-rod f, and connectingplates i, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 6th day of July, 1878.

JNO. BRADFIELI). [L.

Witnesses E. T. MILLER, GEO. OI-IUBB. 

